Vicious attack ad drops as Texas Republicans sling AI slop at each other in ugly primary

The Texas Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate is getting uglier, with interests backing incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton trading increasingly ugly barbs — and attack ads filled with AI slop.

On Wednesday, the pro-Cornyn super PAC Texans for a Conservative Majority dropped an ad full of AI-generated video clips. The ad featured a deepfaked picture of Paxton swiping on a dating app to illustrate accusations of marital infidelity. It also included AI-generated clips of people who supposedly received state grants under Paxton's leadership. These clips depicted transgender activists receiving taxpayer-funded transition surgery recovery, face-tattooed Latino "illegals" seeking to learn "how to avoid deportation," liberal protesters with blue and purple hair, and even a Soviet soldier dressed for a Red Army military parade.

"Ken Paxton is distracted. When the Attorney General is focused on himself, it's bad for Texans," said the ad's robotic voiceover. "If this is how he acts in Texas, we can't afford Ken Paxton in Washington."

"This ad was made with generative A.I. But Ken Paxton's behavior is 100% real," stated a small disclaimer at the end of the clip.

Paxton and Cornyn have been at each other's throats for months, with polls suggesting Donald Trump supporters are leaning in Paxton's favor. The president has so far avoided making an endorsement in the race.

This is not the first time AI has factored into political attacks in the Texas GOP primary.

Earlier this year, the Paxton campaign dropped an ad attacking Cornyn for his bipartisan work on drug abuse with Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett, showing the two of them slow-dancing at a rodeo. Crockett ran for the Democratic nomination in this year's election, but lost to state Rep. James Talarico.